Skinless - Foreshadowing Our Demise
Relapse Records
Brutal Groovy Death Metal
9 songs (40:48)
Release year: 2001
Skinless, Relapse Records
Reviewed by Khelek
Archive review

Skinless hopefully needs no introduction. Since the mid 90s these guys have been churning out some of the heaviest and grooviest death metal around. They also have a great sense of humor, which is hard to find these days. Skinless was also one of the first death metal bands I heard and was actually able to get into. Foreshadowing Our Demise is an album that I think is one of the best examples of their sound. So get ready to bang your head because this album stays heavy, not to mention cynical, the whole way through.

Right from the start you get a taste of the Skinless humor in the form of a short clip to start off the title track. The thick riffs come in fast and furious along with the low, brutal growls of vocalist Sherwood Webber. The drums are also at a fast pace, mostly keeping in stride with the guitar. The song sometimes slows down into a bass and guitar driven breakdown so you can catch your breath before another pummeling attack. Smothered is an excellent groovy song that you can really bang your head to. The riffs here are slower to start out with though the song picks up a bit for the verse. About halfway through there is another slower, very groovy riff that demands to move you. The Optimist has been one of my favorite Skinless tracks ever since I heard it. From the opening words "Life sucks, and then you die!" to the immensely groovy riffs, this song defines what the band is all about. The riffs are just enormous, crushing everything in their path. The growls of Sherwood Webber are deep and brutal although he occasionally uses some higher pitched growls. There are many different riffs used in this song, and although some of them seem disconnected, they are all extremely catchy and just fun to listen to. Salvage What's Left is a faster track that just brutalizes your ears yet still has that undeniably catchy undercurrent. Tug Of War Intestines is another of my favorite tracks. Right from the start this song is relatively fast and to the point and there is also a foreboding element in some of the riffs that add an element of darkness to the groovy fun. Enslavement starts out slow and foreboding with the usual crushing guitar work and heavy drums. Webber comes in with growls that remind me somewhat of Behemoth vocalist Nergal. As the song picks up more and more riffs are introduced until you lose count, but every single one of them hits you like a brick wall. A very catchy brick wall.

Ultimately this album isn't much for variety, but it gives you the same, excellent quality of pure death metal the whole way through. That's not to say that the songs themselves all sound the same, far from it. The riffs maybe all be crushing and groovy, but fortunately they do not all sound the same. This is one of those albums I've been listening to for years and songs still haven't gotten old, which I feel is really something special in this genre. The guys from Skinless know how to write some catchy as hell death metal and they just keep doing it.

Killing Songs :
Smothered, The Optimist, Tug Of War Intestines, Enslavement
Khelek quoted 92 / 100
Other albums by Skinless that we have reviewed:
Skinless - Only the Ruthless Remain reviewed by Andy and quoted 68 / 100
Skinless - Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead reviewed by Adam and quoted 76 / 100
1 readers voted
Average:
 92
You did not vote yet.
Vote now

There are 5 replies to this review. Last one on Wed Aug 19, 2009 4:40 pm
View and Post comments